June 19, 2011

Vow of Poverty, 2003: None too soon for Baby Boomer

This weekend THE WALL STREET JOURNAL confirms what most of us Baby Boomers have been feeling in our paycheck and monthly revenues from our businesses. That's that our peak earning years might been over.

Research shows it's in our 40s that we earn the most. Not that we are going to starve. Also, it's possible we could be one of those late bloomers David W. Galenson describes in "Old Masters and Young Geniuses." That could bring an earnings windfall. More probable is that we Baby Boomers have to downshift our spending to align with reduced income.

Given the reality of the big big money being in the past, I figure I was blessed when my communications firm tanked in 2003 [Download Geezerguts.] Such a trauma, totally unexpected, brought me to take a vow of poverty. Roman Catholics have since informed me that it was not officially a vow of poverty but a commitment to renounce excess consumption. Whatever, I have been existing on the cheap for eight years.

What have I learned which I can pass along to other Baby Boomers who must reduce the monthly nut of fixed costs? Here is some insight:

Blue-collar values represent America at its best. After I sold my house to pay off debt I automatically went to another upper-middle-class neighborhood for a rental. That only delayed my ability to "return home" to the working-class values I grew up with. Even if I prove a late bloomer and make billions, I will remain where you're okay as long as you pay the rent on time and don't vomit in the lobby on Saturday night.

When you're older you don't need much. In his book "Making Toast," Roger Rosenblatt says just that. He and his wife made do in a small apartment after their daughter suddenly died. That was their base of operations for pitching in with caring for the three small children left behind. Turns out the little ones didn't need much either. What was important was their knowing toast will be there in the morning, just like they trained Gramps to make it.

Communism has some good parts. Here in the 1400-unit subsidized senior citizen complex where I rent, it's routine to put in the lobby on each floor what we don't need. Of course, that vanishes in seconds. It feels satisfying to share. Someone's cast off is another's job interview suit. This should become a practice in all neighborhoods. It's easy to set up a central collection and distribution space.

Fewer material possessions = less time tending to them. Time is finally on my side.

Dreaming is still in the cards. Within two years I might be able to buy a cottage in Rhode Island to enjoy the Atlantic Ocean.